Mekong Delta subsiding at alarming rate: workshop

The Mekong Delta is subsiding at an alarming rate, and if the situation continues without effective solutions, the livelihoods of tens of millions of people will be threatened, especially those in coastal areas, heard a recent workshop. 

At a workshop in Ca Mau province on October 15, Andreas Renck, a representative of Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), said the delta boasts outstanding groundwater resources which have widespread presence and big reserves across the region. They are not affected by seasonal factors but naturally protected from pollution.

However, the overexploitation of ground water has been worsening the land subsidence here, he said, citing the EU’s recent satellite monitoring results as showing that the phenomenon is happening at an alarming rate. 

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